Last month I was invited to check out Lumberyard Tavern up in Encinitas. I brought Stacey along with me to check it out. Whenever a place has a long whiskey menu, I figure Stacey is the one to bring along.

[kentucky koolaid and an old fashioned / $8]
I hardly drink these days but Stacey insisted I at least try something. Fine, okay. I ordered a totally girly fruity sounding drink called Kentucky Koolaid with bulleit rye, muddled (smoooooooooshed) blueberries, agave soda …

Last month Jake, T and I took a little trip up to Portland, OR. Oregon is a place I’ve wanted to visit since I was in high school. I almost applied to a few schools there before deciding it against it but the dream of visiting Oregon has always lingered. I’ve seen a few other posts from my blogger friends talking about the awesome Portland food scene up there so finally we made it a reality! Here’s a recap of …

We left for Portland on a Wednesday and we still needed a little bit of lunch for our bellies. Jake and I had both received a buy one get one free coupon for a sandwich at Coop’s West Texas BBQ for our “unbirthday” from iBirthdayClub.com. We misread it and thought it was for a free sandwich, not a BOGO, but either way it turned out fine. 

Our lunch! It had been awhile since we’d been back to Coops and we hadn’t …

Oroweat® approached me recently with an offer to try out their new organic bread and to host my own little sandwich making party. It was just after Thanksgiving when Jake, S, my dad and I got together in the kitchen to make a few panini’s for lunch using Thanksgiving leftovers. What else were we going to do with all of that leftover turkey?!

Oroweat has two new organic breads out: a 100% Whole Wheat bread along with a Grains and Seeds …

I was recently invited to check out Le Parfait Paris, a recent addition to Downtown San Diego. This cafe is actually their second location, with their primary location in Mission Valley. They’ve got an awesome open air feel with this new spot. Tables are on the sidewalk for maximum people watching and to enjoy our usually beautiful weather. Very European!

Jake, T and I visited on a recent Saturday morning and managed to park right in front of the cafe! This …

Jake’s birthday is approximately 20 days before mine. We don’t always celebrate on his actual birthday though since S’s birthday is on the 2nd and he doesn’t want to steal his thunder. Instead we celebrated after his actual day. I made the whole thing a “Surprise! Woohoo!” evening and didn’t tell him where we were going. Jake’s mom graciously dropped us off Downtown as I had arranged transport home through Blacklane. Our first stop: dinner at Werewolf American Pub.

I didn’t …

It’s Monday. And I’m home sick. Hence the late and short post. I am determined to beat this cold as quickly as possible though for birthday weekend fun times. I’m going to be like Barney:

Yesssssss. That’s gonna be me!

[turkey, apple, bacon and brie sandwich / $8.99]
Minion and I went to Specialty’s Cafe recently. I was in a “I-Want-Brie-Forever-And-Ever” mood and chose this sandwich which had roasted turkey breast, bacon and brie with fire-roasted fuji apples, arugula and lemon thyme aioli …

Getting around to Part 2 of our little weekend trip out to the desert! You can refresh your memory with Borrego Springs Part 1 over here, if you’d like to. Don’t worry, I’ll wait.

After grabbing lunch, visiting “The Mall” and checking into our hotel, Jake and I decided to drive out to visit the Salton Sea. Neither of us had ever been and we were curious what it was like. It’s about a half hour drive away from Borrego Springs, down a winding two lane road in the desert.